Button machine



Oct. 10, 1939. B BERMAN ET AL 2,175,737

BUTTON MACHINE Filed March 8, 1958 Benjamin FBerman C haw/es Lifwac/f INVENTORS @2101! W46, ATT N EY Patented Oct. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUTTON MACHINE Berman Application March 8,1938, Serial No. 194,628

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in machines for applying buttons to garments, and especially to the pockets thereof.

An object of the invention is to eliminate the current practice, usually requiring three workers, of inserting a pencil through the buttonhole of a pocket to mark the location of a button to be applied, then applying and securing the button underneath the buttonhole, and thereafter buttoning the pocket. In accordance with the present invention, all of this is performed in a single operation by one operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive form of means to accomplish the object above stated, which may be applied to existing machines as well as to special machines for the purpose.

A further object is to provide a novel method of attaching pocket buttons so that the three distinctly separate operations aforesaid may be combined into one.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmental front elevational view of a button applying machine embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a two-part button commonly employed upon garments, and especially work garments and overalls.

Fig. 3 is a view showing a modification of the invention enlarged, and in association with the pocket material of a garment.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

With reference first to Fig. 3, it should be understood that 5 indicates a shirt or other garment, with a pocket 6 mounted thereon in the customary manner. The pocket piece is furq nished with a buttonhole l (which in Fig. 3 is shown distorted), said buttonhole being adapted to engage a button carried by the garment piece 5. Fig. 3 does not show the button, however, the button would be fixed to the part 5 at ap- ,proximately the location A. As before stated, the button work has been reduced to a single operation, whereas heretofore three separate operations were necessary.

In general, machines for applying buttons of the character indicated by Fig. 2 are well known, as are also machines for applying other types of buttons. While such machines may vary as to details of constructions, the present invention may be applied to practically all forms thereof which have to do with applying buttons for pockets or other compartments to be held closed. The two-part button of Fig. 2, shown by way of example, comprises a base 8 with a stem or prong 9 having a free end to enter an opening I0 in the button head I2. The prong end is forced through the opening II] and is turned over in clinch fashion upon striking the hard metal head interior. Thus the parts are secured together, with the fabric 5 held on the prong between the parts 8 and 12. A button thusly applied at A, may be used to hold the pocket closed by means of the buttonhole 7 (shown on a large scale).

In Fig. l, at I 3 is shown conventionally a magazine feed for the button heads [2, whereas at M is shown a conventional magazine feed for the button bases 8. Such magazine feeds are well known and need not be detailed herein, suffice it to state that they feed their respective objects one at a time. The feed l3'advances the button heads to a holder comprising a pair of fingers l5 and I6 which, at their lower ends cooperate to provide a seat ll for a button head. A reduced portion [8 at the lower end of each finger below the seat accommodates the hollow apertured shank I9 of the button head.

A button head resting upon the seat I? with the shank directed downwardly, is carried down toward an anvil which contains the pronged base 8 by means of suitable mechanism one form of which is described as follows The fingers I 5 and 16 are bodily reciprocable vertically relative to a slide 20. The fingers also may pivot at 2| and 22, so as to move laterally as indicated by the broken lines 23 and 24 for release of the button head from seat ll. Any suitable means may be employed for effecting the movements referred to, for example, a plunger or hammer 25 may be reciprocably mounted in a guide 26 to extend down between the fingers l5 and I6, the plunger being actuated through a pivoted lever 27 that may be operated by a suitable drive means, or a crank 28. A wheel 29 on the crank shaft 36 maybe power driven to rock the lever and thereby reciprocate the plunger 25. Springs such as 3| may be relied upon to yieldingly maintain the fingers in the elevated position shown. The fingers may be moved downwardly against the resistance of the springs by reason of the lower end of the plunger descending upon the head of a button resting upon the seat 11. The spreading of the fingers as indicated may be afforded by means of a cam 32 inclined as a wedge to strike a shoulder 33 on each of the fingers, after the fingers have been carried to the anvil in position for the plunger to strike the button head.

The anvil mentioned above is located adjacent to the magazine [4, and comprises a block 34 which is fixed relative to the frame 35 of the machine. The block may have a recess or depression in its upper face as shown, to support the pronged base 8. A pair of anvil hooks 36 and 31 overlie the anvil and the depression, for positioning and holding the pronged base in readiness for the button securing operation. The hooks are movable laterally outwardly about their pivots 38, for release of the button part 8 after the button parts are joined by the action of the hammer or plunger 25. The spreading of the hooks may be effected in any suitable manner, such as by means of the curved cam faces 39 operating against the correspondingly curved inner surfaces of the hooks when the hooks are bodily lowered by means of a common connecting link 40. The mechanism 41 for elevating and lowering the connecting link will be seen to resemble the means for actuating the plunger or hammer 25, and these parts are driven in synchronism to perform the button joining operation and the release of the joined button parts from the machine.

It should here be mentioned that, in the interest of clarity of disclosure, the anvil mechanism is shown at a somewhat greater distance from the fingers l5 and it than occurs in practice.

Attention now is directed to the depending element 42 at the lower end of finger I6 (Fig. 1). This element may be termed a buttonhole distending element or insert, and its function is to restrain one side of the buttonhole while the other side is pulled to widely open the buttonhole beneath the fingers and over the anvil. A different form of distending element or insert is shown at I42 in Fig. 3, where the pocket piece and garment are shown in association therewith. It will be noted that in Fig. 3, the element I42 is mounted for reciprocation relative to the finger I60, (which corresponds to finger i6) and its upward movement is yieldingly opposed by a spring 43. In using the machine, the work 5-6 is held under the finger with the distending element inserted through the buttonhole, and the operator need only pull the work to the left while the distending element holds one side of the buttonhole as shown, whereupon a sufiicient area B of the garment beneath the pocket piece 6 is exposed for reception of the button head l2 held by the pair of fingers. Then the machine is operated to lower the plunger and the fingers toward the anvil, the two button parts are brought together and joined as explained, while at the same time the pull of the material is released, thus freeing the side of the buttonhole from the distending element, and the plunger and fingers return to the elevated inoperative position, leaving the button fastened at A with the buttonhole already closed upon it. Thus, the pocket is buttoned when the button is applied, and there is no need to employ a separate operator for that purpose. Also, it is not necessary to first mark the spot where the button is to be applied, for the location is accurately determined merely by spreading the buttonhole as stated while the pocket piece rests in normal relationship upon the garment body 5, (Fig. 3).

In the Fig. 3 modification, the buttonhole distender or insert 142 is yieldingly displaced upwardly when it contacts the anvil upon descent of the fingers which hold the button head. This construction permits the use of a distender which is quite long. In the Fig. l disclosure, the distender is shorter, and it need not therefore be displaced due to the fact that the anvil hooks may be caused to move out of the way before the distender reaches that position. The distender 42 will not contact the anvil, because the end of the hook 45 is closer to the plunger than is the anvil in the final upsetting position of these elements. This form of distender, while shorter than the form illustrated by Fig. 3, is sufficiently extensive to enter any buttonhole and restrain it in the manner previously explained. Moreover, it is simpler, and may be formed of a narrow strap of metal shaped to form a hooked end 45 and drilled to receive a screw or other fastener 46.

Some operators of button machines may prefer to have a distender or insert such as 42 or I42 applied to both fingers of the button head holder. With such a construction, the buttonhole is slipped over both distenders or inserts, and the buttonhole spreading action occurs automatically when the plunger 25 descends to separate the fingers and deliver the hammer blow.

As previously stated, the form of machine shown is to be considered illustrative only of one type of button machine that might be equipped according to the present invention. Other forms of button machines are contemplated within the purvue of the invention, and the particular kind of button employed is immaterial. It should accordingly be understood that various modifications and changes in the structural details of the device may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for applying buttons to a garment body having a pocket piece with a buttonhole formed therein overlying said body, the combination of an anvil and means for feeding a button part thereto, a hammer mechanism in line with the anvil, means for feeding a complementary button part to the hammer mechanism, means in connection with the hammer mechanism for driving one of the button parts onto the other for uniting them, and a buttonhole distending element fixed to and depending from the hammer mechanism toward the anvil for engaging a buttonhole to assist in spreading it for exposing a substantial area of the garment body through the buttonhole where the button is applied.

2. In a machine for applying buttons to a garment body having a pocket piece with a buttonhole formed therein overlying said body, the combination of an anvil and means for feeding a button part thereto, a hammer mechanism in line with the anvil, means for feeding a complementary button part to the hammer mechanism, means in connection with the hammer mechanism for driving one of the button parts onto the other for uniting them, and a downwardly projecting buttonhole-distending element mount ed upon the hammer mechanism and adapted to engage a buttonhole for the purpose described.

3. In a machine for applying buttons to a garment body having a pocket piece with a buttonhole formed therein overlying said body, the combination of an anvil and means for feeding a button part thereto, a hammer mechanism in line with the anvil, means for feeding a complementary button part to the hammer mecha nism, means in connection with the hammer mechanism for driving one of the button parts onto the other for uniting them, a downwardly projecting buttonhole-distending element mounted upon the hammer mechanism and adapted to engage a buttonhole for the purpose described, and yielding means supporting the buttonhole-distending element for retractile movement toward the hammer mechanism.

BENJAMIN F. BERMAN. CHARLES LI'I'VVACK. 

